Immigration legislation's prospects bleak after bitter budget fight

President Lays Out Post-shutdown Agenda

Government Shutdown Ends

Lawmakers passed legislation ending the government shutdown Wednesday, one day before the debt ceiling deadline. Chris Burrous reports from Westwood on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013.

Video: Obama says Washington must 'regain' trust of Americans

October 17, 2013 8:55 AM EDT

President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to heal the wounds of a debt ceiling and government shutdown showdown, and warned Washington must stop governing by crisis.

Federal Workers Return To Job After 16-day Government Shutdown

October 17, 2013 10:20 AM EDT

Federal Workers Return To Job After 16-day Government Shutdown

Video: Obama responds after Senate passes bill

October 16, 2013 9:24 PM EDT

President Barack Obama is thanking Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate for passing a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a default. Obama says if and when the House approves the bill, he'll sign it immediately. (Oct. 16)

Video: US debt limit default crisis averted

October 17, 2013 10:05 AM EDT

CLTV Political Analyst Paul Lisnek breaks down the debt limit deal and the 16 day Partial Government Shutdown

Senate Votes to Reopen Gov't, Avoid Default

Congress Expected To Pass Bill Ending Shutdown

October 16, 2013 7:19 PM EDT

Boehner: House 'fought with everything it has'

October 16, 2013 4:57 PM EDT

House GOP plan unclear as debt deadline nears

October 15, 2013 7:25 PM EDT

Time is quickly running out for lawmakers to agree on a deal to avoid default and end the partial government shutdown, now in its third week. With a last-minute Senate deal close, the House GOP pushed a plan of its own, then postponed it. (Oct. 15)

Reid-McConnell Deal to End Shutdown Said Close

October 16, 2013 1:19 PM EDT

Phil Mattingly reports on a possible deal to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the debt-ceiling. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers."

Sen. Cruz: Never Intended to Delay Timing of Vote

October 16, 2013 1:17 PM EDT

U.S. Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, speaks about the deal to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the debt-ceiling.

Sen. McConnell: Confident We Can Reopen Government

October 16, 2013 1:16 PM EDT

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks about the deal to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the debt-ceiling. He speaks on the Senate floor.

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), who earlier this year had been working with lawmakers from both parties to write an immigration bill, said that President Obama’s refusal to negotiate with House Speaker John Boehner over funding the government and increasing the country’s borrowing limit made him unwilling to enter into talks over immigration.

“After the way the president acted over the last two or three weeks where he would refuse to talk to the speaker of the House … they’re not going to get immigration reform. It’s done,” Labrador said, walking off the House floor Wednesday night after voting against the measure to open the government and increase the debt limit.

President Obama said Thursday morning that with the shutdown fight over, he wants Congress to get a bill to his desk that will fix the immigration system. “Let’s get this done,” Obama said.

The Senate passed a broad immigration overhaul bill in June with the votes of every Democrat in the chamber and 15 of its Republicans. But Boehner has refused to bring the bill to a vote on the House floor because it is unlikely to receive the support of the majority of GOP House members.

House Republicans have long said they want to pass a series of bills that overhaul different parts of the immigration system. The House Judiciary Committee has held hearings this year on increasing the number of visas given to high-tech workers, ratcheting up requirements for employers to check the immigration status of new hires, and allowing immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to apply for legal status, among other measures.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) has been working with a handful of fellow Republicans to craft a bill that would increase border security and clear a way for immigrants in the country illegally to apply for legal status. He said that this bill has a chance of passing the House, if it is included in a raft of bills that fix different parts of the immigration system.

“There’s a lot of folks here who have been working and feel cautiously optimistic,” Diaz-Balart said of the immigration effort in the House, after Wednesday night’s vote to end the budget impasse.

“I wouldn’t be spending this much time, this much effort, if I didn’t think we had a chance to get it done,” Diaz-Balart said.

Ohio Republican Steve Stivers said he would normally be open to finding a way forward on overhauling the immigration system, but the most recent standoff has made him wary of the Senate Democrats and Obama’s willingness to enter into a give and take.

“I’m a guy who is pretty reasonable on that issue, and I think we can find common ground. But they didn’t try to find common ground here,” Stivers said after Wednesday’s House vote on the debt limit. “And it doesn’t bode well for whatever the next chapter is, unfortunately,” Strivers said.